Overcrowding on railway lines used by college students and school pupils has led a train company to add extra bus services. Students on the train between Barnstaple and Exeter say they have been "crammed like sardines" with claims that staff told young people to leave the train and take the bus.
Rail passenger groups say a shortage of rolling stock in south-west England is affecting services more widely, with extra buses also being laid on between Plymouth and Liskeard. Great Western Railway (GWR) said students had been offered the chance to take buses introduced because of increasing demand, particularly for young people travelling to Exeter College.
On a drizzly morning at Barnstaple station, Sky from Braunton and her friend Sofia from Westward Ho! are not looking forward to the daily challenge of trying to get a seat on the 07:22 train service from Barnstaple to Exeter, known as the Tarka Line.
Sofia said: "My dad spent over £300 for a monthly term pass but then you're still being kicked off the train. So you then just have to go onto the coach after spending that much money." She added: "It's just a bit of a scam really."
Sky said she had to get a train from Braunton at 06:50 to get to Barnstaple in time for the connecting train. She said: "Sometimes you get kicked off the train then you have to wait an hour for the next one."
Rick Yeo, whose daughter gets the morning train, said: "I would have thought they could have managed themselves a bit better and maybe put another carriage on."
The Tarka line has several stops along the way including at Kings Nympton where Agnes, who has just started at Exeter College, boards the train. She said: "As soon as I get on I don't even look for a seat anymore because there are no seats and we're all stood inbetween the carriages because that's really the only standing space there. The service is extremely poor bearing in mind we pay so much money for it when in areas like London it's either heavily discounted or entirely free – I don't understand why we pay such a high price for something that's so unreliable and unpleasant."
She said the trains home at the end of the day were "even worse" with everyone leaving Exeter "crammed like sardines". She said: "It's just crazy – everyone is way up against the train, shoving and barging just to try and get a seat – sometimes they say to people you can't get on because there's not enough room so it makes people even more hectic because they want to get back home."
Exeter College has grown in recent years and about two thirds of its students come from outside the city, external with some coming from as far away as Dorset or Somerset. Barnstaple does have its own higher education college, Petroc, which merged with Exeter College in January.
Exeter College offers travel passes to students which are subsidised and set on a sliding scale depending on household income, external.
A spokesperson for Exeter College said: "We have a brilliant relationship with Great Western Railway and have been eagerly awaiting the rollout of the new larger trains for the Tarka Line, which we believe will be in operation in the coming months."
Extra Buses Added After Exeter Students Face Overcrowded Trains